#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Lee Child returns with a gripping new powerhouse thriller featuring Jack Reacher, “one of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes” (The Washington Post).

Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?

So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.

The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.

Praise for The Midnight Line

“Puts Reacher just where we want him.”—TheNew York Times Book Review

“A gem.”—Chicago Tribune

“A timely, suspenseful, morally complex thriller, one of the best I’ve read this year . . . Child weaves in a passionately told history of opioids in American life. . . . Child’s outrage over it is only just barely contained.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A perfect example of Lee Child’s talent . . . Lee Child is the master of plotting. . . . This is Child’s most emotional book to date. . . . This is not just a good story; it is a story with a purpose and a message.”—Huffington Post

“I just read the new Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. . . . It is as good as they always are. I read every single one.”—Malcolm Gladwell

Audible book Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible book with Whispersync for Voice. Add the Audible book for a reduced price of $12.99 when you buy the Kindle book.

Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Each year Lee Child comes up with another Reacher. Each year I lap it up. Love it . . . Here, there is something subversive as well as page-turning. . . . I don’t know another author so skilled at making me turn the page, at putting me in the thick of it all.”—The Times

“Reacher is the purest distillation of the white knight in contemporary mystery fiction. This novel is a tightly plotted ride with characters who will break your heart and linger after you close the book.”—Mystery Scene

“Reacher [is] one of the most alluring and popular characters in contemporary fiction. . . . As always in a Child novel, pace is fast, twists and turns surprise, characters are well-developed, dialogue is exactly right, and the plot is very plausible. . . . Highly entertaining . . . This one is among the best [in the series]. It doesn’t matter in what order you read them since each stands entirely on its own.”—The Washington Times

“Jack Reacher has become arguably the most iconic fictional hero we have.”—Men’s Health

“Compelling and moving . . . bold and mysterious.”—Associated Press

“This, Child’s twenty-second book in the series, has heart to spare, and it proves the franchise has plenty of gas left in its tank.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Compulsively readable.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A] multifaceted novel about dealing with the unthinkable . . . It’s automatic: Reacher gets off a bus, and Child lands on the New York Times bestseller list.”—Booklist

“The book is very smart . . . [and] suggests something that has not been visible in the series’ previous entries: a creeping sadness in Reacher’s wanderings that, set here among the vast and empty landscapes of Wyoming, resembles the peculiarly solitary loneliness of the classic American hero. This return to form is also a hint of new ground to be covered.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Child does a stellar job this time by not following his customary formula; his usually stoic hero who rarely displays softness and compassion is hit hard emotionally by this case.”’—Library Journal (starred review)

About the Author

Lee Child is the author of twenty-two New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, thirteen of which have having reached the #1 position, and the complete Jack Reacher story collection, No Middle Name. All his novels have been optioned for major motion pictures—including Jack Reacher (based on One Shot) and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Child lives in New York City.

You have to hand it to Lee Child. He obviously listens to his fans. Perhaps like me you are somewhat disappointed that Tom Cruise is the movie version of Jack Reacher. When you have the money to buy the movie rights to a character who someone else has created, I guess you have poetic license to recreate him in your own image. Unfortunately in this case it involves shrinking a 6'5" 250 pound man into a package that is only 5'7" and 170 pounds. Even though the movie rights belong to Tom Cruise, Lee Child has no reason to reduce the size and presence of his star character. In the first 28 pages of this novel, Mr. Child has clearly wanted all of his readers to know that Jack Reacher could be described as 'Bigfoot' or 'The Incredible Hulk'. In fact early on one of the characters in this excellent story calls him "huge", "not quite seven feet, but close." And he has "Fists like Thanksgiving turkeys." Mr. Cruise paid a lot of money to buy this character, but he doesn't "own it".

I have read all 22 of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels and this one might arguably be his best. The longest journey begins with but a single step and Mr. Child takes his readers on what appears to be a simple quest to make things right. Nothing official, nothing legal/illegal, just simply Jack Reacher trying to do the right thing -- possibly to atone for some of his past actions. But of course his journey becomes more complicated the longer he pursues his goal. We are exposed to our current opioid epidemic and how the legal system of manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical grade opioids has been corrupted and circumvented. And we are shown the horrible plight of our disfigured and disabled veterans. Interestingly enough these two timely problems are tied together and become a major part of the plot.

Lee Child is definitely at the top of his craft. This novel is a perfect example of how someone's imagination has allowed them to create an interesting, insightful, and enjoyable read while informing us about two major problems affecting today's society. The fact that it is extremely well written doesn't take away from the snarky and cynical humor peppered throughout this book. The characters are all well described and their motives are crystal clear, even if they contradict one another's. When you finish reading it, and I'll bet that you won't want it to end, the artistry with which Mr. Child tied all of his subplots together will be wonderfully apparent. And at the end, while pondering what you have just read, you will consider once again who the real monster in the room is.

The Midnight Line is not a typical Jack Reacher story. Instead, Reacher, a former Army MP major, puts on his Military Police cap and does some serious sleuthing from the opening scene where he finds a West Point class ring in a pawn shot in Rapid City South Dakota to his search to find the rightful owner of the ring in Wyoming. Reacher is a West Point grad himself and knows that few graduates of the Point would give up their ring unless something bad had happened to them. He decides that maybe he can help the owner of the ring and immediately starts gathering clues to identify this fellow West Pointer. Of course, as the story develops, a simple lost and found case becomes dangerous as Reacher creates enemies in the oxycodone and fentanyl drug trafficking business. Reacher must use all his skills to protect life and limb.

It doesn’t take Reacher long to get to Wyoming, where he thinks he may find the owner of the West Point ring. I was much impressed by Lee Child’s ability to paint impressive word pictures of the places Reacher visits in Wyoming. I never thought of Lee Child as a fine writer – I do now. Wyoming came to life for me in the pages of this novel thanks to Lee Child's writing skills. Additionally, Reacher teams up with a former FBI agent who is also searching for a missing person and the dialogue between Reacher, the agent, and other characters in the story is crisp, clear, believable, and often entertaining.

The Midnight Line is a police procedural, something like a Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly. I am guessing some readers are going to be unhappy that there is less violent action in The Midnight Line than in a typical Reacher story. For me, I liked this change of pace and direction and was impressed with the new more cerebral Reacher, a man well educated and thoughtful. Don’t get me wrong, when mayhem is needed, Reacher is up to the task! When we finally get to the end of the story, Lee Child ties up all the details nicely and leaves us with a feeling of satisfaction that all loose ends are resolved as Reacher heads off for some new adventure.

I may be in the minority, but I like this new Reacher and I think that Lee Child has used all his talents as a writer and story teller to best advantage. Unfortunately, Reacher fans are going to have to wait; the novel will not be released until November 7, 2017. The Midnight Line looks like a best seller to me and I recommend it without reservation to Reacher fans. 4.5 stars.

Update: The more I think about it, the better I like this new Reacher novel. My wife is reading it now and she thinks it is excellent; she is a serious mystery story buff. Five stars.

Update 2: I wrote this review two months ago and predicted this new Reacher novel would go right to the top of the best seller list, which is where it stands on this first day of publication. If you read this book, leave me a comment and tell me if you agree that this is one of the best books in the Reacher series. Thanks. Russell